Mosiah 18

(All of my own thoughts are in red type 6/20 Green 3/21 Orange 6/22  Brown 2023)

Chapter 18

Alma preaches in private—He sets forth the covenant of baptism and baptizes at the waters of Mormon—He organizes the Church of Christ and ordains priests—They support themselves and teach the people—Alma and his people flee from King Noah into the wilderness. About 147–145 B.C.

  1 And now, it came to pass that Alma, who had fled from the servants of king Noah, ^arepented of his sins and iniquities, I wonder what his repentance process looked like for him...and went about privately among the people, and began to teach the words of Abinadi—This is true repentance and conversion. Did he receive any spiritual manifestations? Was he previously a baptized Nephite? Was he born again? Alma knew Abinadi would be killed and the warning to repent would not continue unless he carried it forward. He also must have known that he preached under penalty of death as well if he were caught. What is the lesson for us today? John the Baptist would say, "are you willing to lose your head for Christ?"
  2 Yea, concerning that which was to come, and also concerning the resurrection of the dead, and the ^aredemption of the people, which was to be brought to pass through the power, and sufferings, and ^bdeath of Christ, and his resurrection and ascension into heaven.
  3 And as many as would hear his word he did teach. And he taught them privately, that it might not come to the knowledge of the king. And many did believe his words. I wonder what this looked like in their day...How did he determine if it was “safe” to teach someone or if they would turn him in? Why were some of the people in a condition to receive the word? Were they privately righteous while most others were sinning?
  4 And it came to pass that as many as did believe him did go forth to a ^aplace which was called Mormon, Is this the first time we hear of the name Mormon? having received its name from the king, Why did he name it Mormon? Who was Mormon? being in the ^bborders of the land having been infested, by times or at seasons, by wild beasts. Was this a little scary to them then? Or did they pick this place because it would be considered unlikely by the King? 
     5 Now, there was in Mormon a fountain of pure water, sounds symbolic and Alma resorted thither, there being near the water a thicket of small trees, where he did hide himself in the daytime from the searches of the king. Were these routine searches or was the king actively looking for Alma. He had sent his guards to catch him and kill him and they were unsuccessful, so it’s likely that they were regularly on the lookout for him. 
  6 And it came to pass that as many as believed him went thither to hear his words.
  7 And it came to pass after many days there were a goodly number gathered together at the place of Mormon, to hear the words of Alma. Yea, all were gathered together that believed on his word, to hear him. And he did ^ateach them, and did preach unto them repentance, and redemption, and faith on the Lord. This is what we need to have preached again in our day...
  8 And it came to pass that he said unto them: Behold, here are the waters of Mormon (for thus were they called) and now, as ye are ^adesirous to come into the ^bfold of God, and to be called his people, and are willing to bear one another’s burdens, that they may be light;
  9 Yea, and are ^awilling to mourn with those that ^bmourn; yea, and comfort those that stand in need of comfort, and to stand as ^cwitnesses of God at all times and in all things, and in all places that ye may be in, even until death, that ye may be redeemed of God, and be numbered with those of the ^dfirst resurrection, that ye may have eternal life—
 10 Now I say unto you, if this be the desire of your hearts, what have you against being ^abaptized in the ^bname of the Lord, as a witness before him that ye have entered into a ^ccovenant with him, that ye will serve him and keep his commandments, that he may pour out his Spirit more abundantly upon you?These are our baptismal covenants! After you are baptized, you seek for the Spirit to be "more abundantly upon you" - when you actually "receive" the Holy Ghost. Did Alma have authority to baptize? He was a “priest” after all... Notice that in our covenant we say we will stand as a witness at ALL times in ALL things, and in ALL places EVEN UNTO DEATH. (Watch this video for a great example of this...)

 11 And now when the people had heard these words, they clapped their hands for joy, and exclaimed: This is the desire of our hearts. It truly must have been, for they were willing to risk being caught to gather to hear the word of God.
 12 And now it came to pass that Alma took Helam, he being one of the first, and went and stood forth in the water, and cried, saying: O Lord, pour out thy Spirit upon thy servant, that he may do this work with holiness of heart. Was this is moment of being given “authority”?
 13 And when he had said these words, the ^aSpirit of the Lord was upon him, How was this manifest? and he said: Helam, I baptize thee, having ^bauthority from the Almighty God, as a testimony that ye have entered into a ^ccovenant to serve him until you are dead as to the mortal body; and may the Spirit of the Lord be poured out upon you; and may he grant unto you eternal life, through the redemption of Christ, whom he has prepared from the ^dfoundation of the world. Not sure how the 'authority' was given, but he clearly says it was given to him. Notice the contrast of serving God “until you are dead” with being granted “eternal life”. Don’t be afraid to stand for God, even at the risk of your life. 
 14 And after Alma had said these words, both Alma and Helam were ^aburied in the water; and they arose and came forth out of the water rejoicing, being filled with the Spirit. I love the visual of them both going down in the water. Did they receive their baptism by fire and the Holy Ghost at this same moment?
 15 And again, Alma took another, and went forth a second time into the water, and baptized him according to the first, only he did not bury ^ahimself again in the water.
 16 And after this manner he did baptize every one that went forth to the place of Mormon; and they were in number about two hundred and four souls; yea, and they were ^abaptized in the waters of Mormon, and were filled with the ^bgrace of God. What does it mean to be "filled with the grace of God"? What does that look like? How do you know that is what is happening? 
 17 And they were called the church of God, or the ^achurch of Christ, from that time forward. And it came to pass that whosoever was baptized by the power and authority of God was added to his church.
 18 And it came to pass that Alma, having ^aauthority from God, ^bordained priests; even one priest to every fifty of their number did he ordain to preach unto them, and to ^cteach them concerning the things pertaining to the kingdom of God. Were they just studying the writings of the brass plates? Abinadi hadn’t talked that long that there would be much more for them to teach...or was there continuing revelation? Notice how many times he says he had authority from God!
 19 And he commanded them that ^athey should ^bteach nothing save it were the things which he had taught, and which had been spoken by the mouth of the holy prophets. Okay...so that kind of answered that question. They taught what had been written before and what Abinadi taught. Some people want to discount the teaching of earlier prophets and only focus on what the living prophet says, but Alma clearly valued the writings of all the former holy prophets and taught mostly that. Even Jesus quoted "old" scriptures when alive and also when he visited the Nephites.
 20 Yea, even he commanded them that they should ^apreach nothing save it were repentance and faith on the Lord, who had redeemed his people. Even though we believe in continuing revelation, nothing needs to be preached to the masses except repentance and faith in Jesus Christ and His redemption. All other revelation to the church must come through the prophet.  Individual revelation is for the individual. 
 21 And he commanded them that there should be no ^acontention one with another, but that they should look forward with ^bone eye, having one faith and one baptism, having their hearts ^cknit together in unity and in love one towards another. If this is all you are teaching, then there is nothing to contend about. There is one faith in Jesus Christ, one baptismal covenant that they all made, and that covenant turns them outward in unity and love to each other. 
 22 And thus he commanded them to preach. And thus they became the ^achildren of God. Notice they 'became' the children of God. Was this in the process of time or suddenly? How do we know if we have “become” the children of God? Wouldn’t it be by our fruits? Our feeling? The lack of contention? “If ye are not one, ye are not mine”. Other scriptures references about "becoming sons and daughters of God" are linked with being born again.|
 23 And he commanded them that they should observe the ^asabbath day, and keep it holy, and also every day they should give thanks to the Lord their God. The importance of the Sabbath Day has never changed since the creation of the earth. Perhaps the law was given so the earth, herself, could rest from all our labors and the energy produced in our selfish pursuits. God’s blessing to the world was “rest” once a week. When the judgements come in the form of earthquakes and tempests and other “earthly” chaos, could it be the earth herself meeting out justice for breaking her covenant promised day of rest? Sometimes I wonder if God hears my daily thanks as “vain repetition” but here were are taught that we are to give thanks daily to the Lord.
 24 And he also commanded them that the priests whom he had ordained ^ashould ^blabor with their own hands for their support. No priestcraft allowed!
 25 And there was ^aone day in every week that was set apart that they should ^bgather themselves together to teach the people, and to worship the Lord their God, and also, as often as it was in their power, to ^cassemble themselves together. This is why we have to go back to church even during this COVID pandemic. We are commanded to gather. It's important to God and should be important to us! I have to admit that I haven’t been “gathering” in person during COVID, but only virtually, because I don’t want to wear a mask if I don’t have to. And the truth is, we don’t “have” to wear a mask by “mandate” at church, but our leaders are still asking us to. As long as I am authorized to take the sacrament at home and we “have” to wear a mask to church, I will stay home. 
Many people are following the mandates because the prophet said we should follow the government guidelines and be good global citizens. But...our church doesn't tow the same line when it comes to illegal immigrants. They are not told to follow the law and are even given temple recommends. How do they answer the question, "are you honest in all your dealings"? Why don't they have to be good "global citizens" and follow the laws of the country? If the church doesn't think these are good or fair laws, why do they get to ignore them and we don't get to ignore the bad mandates that are clearly unconstitutional? I don't understand the thinking or logic in these two matters. sigh. Notice the unity and love these people had caused them to want to be together “as often as was in their power”. This is how like-minded people who are considered outcasts feel. They want so much to be together. While the rest of the like-minded in the world don’t really care about being with other like-minded people...they just go about their lives doing their own thing. 
 26 And the priests were not to depend upon the people for their support; but for their labor they were to receive the ^agrace of God, that they might wax strong in the Spirit, having the ^bknowledge of God, that they might teach with power and authority from God. What “wages” would you rather have? Notice God was the one who “paid” the priests for their labor. He paid them in the currency of the Spirit which gave them power and authority to teach. It makes me wonder if our highest church leaders should not receive money from the members for their wages either. King Benjamin wasn’t supported by the people...  why wouldn’t they rely on their own retirement plans from their own careers? I understand through the decades that things creep in that are not necessarily intended to be wrong, and I am not accountable if it is wrong or right. This is God’s church and it’s up to Him to take care of those things. I just pay my tithes and offerings as God has commanded and the rest is between God and those who are stewards of those sacred funds. It takes more and more faith to pay tithes when I see where they are going. BYU is off the rails and tithing goes there. They invest the tithes in stocks of corrupt companies like Pfizer, Google, etc. The apostles are wealthy men who still get a monthly income from the church. What is happening? What does it mean to have the "knowledge of God"? Clearly one of the spiritual gifts is to be able to preach with power and authority from God. It makes me wonder how many of our leaders (local and higher) have received this actual "knowledge of God" (born again) because I don't see much teaching "with power and authority from God". I believe they have "authority"...I just don't often feel the "power"
 27 And again Alma commanded that the people of the church should impart of their substance, ^aevery one according to that which he had; if he have more abundantly he should impart more abundantly; and of him that had but little, but little should be required; and to him that had not should be given.
 28 And thus they should impart of their ^asubstance of their own free will and good desires towards God, and to those priests that stood in need, yea, and to every needy, naked soul. Ok, so maybe this is more like how we are doing it. Those that preach “full-time” are supported by the free will offerings and “good desires towards God” of the members. These men, after all, are serving full-time in their retirement years when the rest of us actually “retire”. We support them out of gratitude and love. The only caveat would be if they aren’t really in “need” of those funds to support themselves because they do have retirement income...maybe they shouldn’t take it. Pres. Trump didn’t accept his presidential salary because he didn’t need it. This is the spirit I’m talking about...
 29 And this he said unto them, having been commanded of God; another clear statement that was he was teaching them he had been commanded of God and they did ^awalk uprightly before God, imparting to one another both temporally and spiritually according to their needs and their wants. In Zion, everyone seeks the welfare of the other. I like to think that the “wants” part of ministering isn’t actually driven by the “wants” of the individual, but of the ministering person really seeking to know what the other ‘wants’ and striving to give them that just for the joy factor.
 30 And now it came to pass that all this was done in Mormon, yea, by the ^awaters of Mormon, in the forest that was near the waters of Mormon; yea, the place of Mormon, the waters of Mormon, the forest of Mormon, how beautiful are they to the eyes of them who there came to the knowledge of their Redeemer; yea, and how blessed are they, for they shall ^bsing to his praise forever.(Calling and Election made sure? Baptism by fire and the Holy Ghost. This is the 'song of redeeming love' people feel to sing after receiving redemption. These people didn't take a lifetime to receive this. Seems to have happened pretty fast and to them all at once. Is this the effect of having someone preach with "power and authority from God"? Is this why so few feel this way or have received this? What needs to change? Who needs to come?
 31 And these things were done in the ^aborders of the land, that they might not come to the knowledge of the king.
 32 But behold, it came to pass that the king, having discovered a movement among the people, sent his servants to watch them. Therefore on the day that they were assembling themselves together to hear the word of the Lord they were discovered unto the king.
 33 And now the king said that Alma was stirring up the people to rebellion against him; therefore he sent his ^aarmy to destroy them. Christians are always martyred in the name of being “domestic terrorists”.
 34 And it came to pass that Alma and the people of the Lord were ^aapprised of the coming of the king’s army; therefore they took their tents and their families and ^bdeparted into the wilderness. Hmmm....who “apprised” them? The footnote to this word refers to another time the Lord gave Alma warning. So we are to assume this was done here. Trust that the Lord will warn His people to leave before they are destroyed. How much time did they have? How pre-prepared were they to leave? Did it matter? They had faith God would be with them and they already lived off the land so that wouldn’t have been a worry to them. They could probably do it very quickly.
 35 And they were in number about ^afour hundred and fifty souls. They all had tents! Even though they probably had more permanent dwellings. How much notice did they have? So their numbers went from 204 to 450 from their first baptismal meeting until they left. I wonder how long this was? Even if it were in the same year, that more than doubled the number. This could be a great example of the exponential growth when “every member is a missionary”. Each of the 204 went and brought just one more person (plus another 50...)